The Congressional Management Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that helps Congress do a better job communicating with the public, has released a cartoon on YouTube explaining just how technology has changed Congressional correspondence.

Nerd alert!

The cartoon is just over a minute long and features a man sitting at a desk, flanked by an inbox and an outbox. The video covers the past 50 years, and as each decade changes, so does the man&rsquo;s outfit, the music and even the presidential portrait on the wall behind him.

&ldquo;In the 1970s, new technology came to Congress,&rdquo; the video explains. &ldquo;Lava lamps accompanied word-processing machines and computers allowing Members of Congress to be more efficient.&rdquo;

While technology was helpful in the &rsquo;70s, the video reminds us that it&rsquo;s a double-edged sword. &ldquo;The 1990s brought the Internet, and technology turned on Congress,&rdquo; the video says. &ldquo;The inbox began to far exceed the outbox.&rdquo;

Today, lawmakers are at a disadvantage with Twitter, e-mail and Web forms making communicating with Congress as simple as pressing a button, according to the CMF.